Going Away
by mangobat
Summary: things always seem to be going so well before disaster strike. I felt like writing something sad and a little smutty. chapter 1
1. Chapter 1

Carol

She stood alone. The sky was empty. Even the crows had left now

I don't think this is the beginning

To her he always resembled a scruffy old tomcat. His hair was a mess, his shaggy whiskers grew unevenly in dark blonde tuffs and she could imagine him running up a tree if she ever tried to show him a bath. That being said she did have a soft spot for his gruffness. It made her smile to see him eying Tyreese talking to Rick and Sasha suspiciously from his corner. "I don't like none o' this" he whispered in a low growl. "When are they leaving?" Carol looked at him raising an eyebrow trying to resist the urge to giggle at his childishness "these people are here to help us" she replied. This just caused him to scowl harder "We don't need _these _peoples help" he retorted stubbornly.

With an exasperated sigh Carol turned her back on him and pretended to survey the prison fields below. It was mid summer so the sky was a brilliant light blue and the fields were oceans of golden grass that had dried up from the heat. She reflected at the beauty of the contrast as Daryl stood moodily beside her. She could feel his eyes on her back as she continued to gaze into the distance absentmindedly. Ever since their little family had grown larger, with the additions of tyreese and the Woodbury citizens, Daryl's mood had taken a turn for the worse. At first Carol had calculated it to the loss of merle. Nobody every saw Daryl mourn. He didn't cry he didn't even want to discuss it. Perhaps recoiling back into his old ways was just a Daryl way of grieving, of trying to grasp the past.

She didn't like it but if it helped soothe that all to familiar hole in the heart only the loss of a loved one can leave then it would have to do. But as time had gone on and he had only become more irritable. _There must be something else _she sighed. "Will that be okay with you carol?" Rick's commanding voice broke through her train of thoughts. In response she spun around and like clockwork begun nodding her head and smiling "sure anything I can do to help" _what the hell did you just agree too_ a more cynical part of her mind commented. Whatever it was Daryl was now frowning at her like a two-year-old child. Well it was more of a pout then a frown. Whenever he disagreed with something but knew it was not his place to argue he was notorious for pulling faces. _It must be the Dixon blood_.

"Carols busy taking care of other stuff she doesn't need this Rick" Daryl said firmly folding his arms. Rick cocked his head "stuff?" he questioned. Daryl looked at him holding his gaze. "and things.." Carol looked at the both of them with increasing agitation and confusion. It was very out of character for Daryl to speak against Rick. "Look I don't need to be told what to do Daryl I'm not a child, I want to help." She spoke boldly matching Daryl's glare with her own. Sensing the tension Rick quickly continued, "Well thank you carol it's a big help you teaching tyreese how to properly shoot" beside him tyreese smiled timidly. "I'm just a bit rusty that's all." His sister who had been watching the conversation from the far side of the room scoffed. Tyreese rolled his eyes.

_He sure is a strong looking man _she contemplated_ yet here I am, little old carol, teaching him how to shoot _she thought with a satisfied nod in his direction. The feeling was quite empowering to her. As tyreese approached her Rick and Sasha left the guard tower. Daryl was the last to leave. As he stalked out he didn't say a word. _Let him brood _she thought turning to tyreese with a polite smile_ he really is just a big child after all. _

Daryl

As soon as Daryl had closed the door of the guard tower he regretted saying every word that had come out of his filthy redneck mouth. _Of course she doesn't need somebody telling her what to do. She had a whole marriage of that how could you be so stupid_ he angrily thought to himself. Frustrated he sat on the stairs of the guard tower, in defeat, rubbing his temples. What was she doing to him? She made his palms sweaty and his head always felt light almost giddy whenever she was near him.

These past months his hunting had been off, hell even being in the same room as carol made him angry and happy and scared all at the same time. His emotions were all over the place and it frightened him because for once in his life he couldn't solve the problem and there was nobody to help him. This thought cause him to groan loudly as he slammed his fist into his knee in sudden rage.

It all began three months ago. It had been a hot night, he hadn't been able to sleep. He just lay in his cot listening to the cricket's chirp and the sound of his own heartbeat. The moon had shone though the bars of his cell window flooding the cell in an eerily but beautiful light. Such a beautiful silver glow he reflected. That was when carol had came into his mind.. He often thought of carol but not in the way he thought about her that night. As he lay fiddling with his fingers he allowed his mind to drift on to what it would be like to kiss her, to taste her mouth as his hands wound their way though her soft hair, the feeling of her soft fragile body pressed up to his own. He wondered what her heartbeat would sound like. The feeling of being needed was what he lusted for the most from carol that night. He had even been so daring to imagine her naked. As waves of heat ran across entire body he was overcome by the strongest animalistic urge to get up and make love to her sweet and soft body right then. But quickly his cheeks lit up bright red and became paranoid of rejection. She would laugh at him even though deep down he knew that was not something she would ever do.

The next morning he avoided her. Even just seeing her brought back the same urges he had experienced the night before. Unable to control these desires he decided it was best to avoid all contact with her. He always knew he loved her but before he was unsure of what kind of love it was. He bit his lip at the memory and the pain of his love as he kicked a clump of dirt off the stairs and watched it plummet to the hard earth below.

All this thinking was painful. In a moment of dry humour he remembered Merle remarking on how he thought too much. _What would Merle do?_ Daryl scoffed at that thought. His brother was just as unlucky with the ladies as he was before everything ended. Some how nice tits wanna fuck? Was not a great pickup line unless you were completely drunk. The memory made his chest ache. _I wish that son of a bitch had stuck around _he thought sadly. _I'm The last Dixon standing now _he thought with bitter sadness. Behind through the closed door he could here the girlish laughter of carol followed by tyreeses dry chuckle. This caused him to stand up ridged with spite. Even though he was unsure about his own feelings he knew one thing. Tyreese made his blood boil whenever he around carol. It had been different with axel. Axel was what his father would have called a wiener. _Nothing to worry about_. But tyreese whenever he said something she laughed and smiled .

He knew it was selfish and silly but he had always thought that those smiles and giggles had been reserved for him only. It made him sick to see tyreese receiving them. He spat at the floor at this. Then continued his decent down the watchtower. As he reached the bottom he had lapsed back into his usual brooding silence.

He had resolved on his way down though that tonight he would bring her supper . It had been a little tradition of carols to bring him supper whenever he had watch but tonight he would return the favour. _But I sure as hell aint bringing tyreese anything, bout time he learnt the established pecking order _he thought with a satisfied smile_._


	2. Chapter 2

Carol

As the afternoon progressed tyreese shooting did not. "You need to relax" carol continued to tell him. But the reality was that if he were anymore relaxed he would be a pile of wobbling jelly. He looked at her unconvinced "maybe its something else?" he shrugged visually upset with his progress. "Nobody ever became an ace shooter over night you just need to practise" she said trying to reassure him. With a sigh he sat down and wiped his brow. The sun was beginning to sink into the horizon and carol could smell the sweet scent of cooking meat coming from below. "Smells good" tyreese said answering her thoughts. "Ill get us some" he said already heading towards the door. "Thank you" she chirped back. Even though the afternoon hadn't really been productive for tyreese shooting he was a good student, respected her and best of he hung on to her every word. Before she could have a moment to herself however the door swung wide open and Daryl shuffled in clasping or red bowl filled with steaming soup. "I thought I should bring you something" he said shyly avoiding eye contact. Carol smiled at his small offering. "You didn't have to do that tyreese just went down to get me something" she said trying to break it gently to him. Daryl frowned and shoved it on the table "Fine I was only trying to repay the favour" he growled turning towards the door. But before he could reach it she placed a hand on his shoulder desperately holding him back. He turned with a scowl. "What do ya want…" he began but carol silenced him by standing on her tiptoes and placing a small peck onto his cheek. She was so close she could feel the heat of his cheeks on her own. He looked at her speechless, his eyes filled with longing. As she glided her hand down his chest the longing became fear. "Carol" he muttered taking a step back towards the door. Carol raised an eyebrow at him. "Did I do something wrong" Daryl's expression screwed up his face at the comment. " No…" he sighed fiddling with his hands like a small child. "Look if you want to talk about this meet me tonight after your watch at the old guards office". "Alright then" He said simply. Carol half smiled at him. The smile must have worked on Daryl because he returned it with one of his own crooked smiles.


End file.
